Establishment of MRI library to optimise treatment workflows for MRL
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Establishment of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan library to optimise treatment workflows for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Linac based therapy
IRAS ID
194983
Contact name
Shreerang Bhide
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 28 days
Research summary
In radiotherapy high-tech scans with x-rays (CT scans) are taken before and during treatment to locate the tumour and ensure the radiation is hitting the target
These x-rays expose patients to additional radiation and the quality of these scans is often poor which makes it difficult to distinguish tumour from normal tissue and there may be uncertainty in the tumour position due to movement or shrinkage. To allow for these uncertainties a large margin around the tumour is also treated, but this means that large volumes of normal tissue also receive significant doses of radiation, which can result in early and late toxicity.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is better than CT scanning at being able to tell the difference between tumour and normal tissues and does not expose patients to additional radiation. A new machine called an MR Linac (or magnetic resonance imaging-guided linear accelerator) integrates high quality MRI with a state-of-the-art radiotherapy machine and the ICR/RMH are currently installation a prototype, which will be one of the first in the world.
This revolutionary technology has the potential to change the way radiotherapy is delivered. We hope the improved precision and accuracy in hitting the target will mean reductions in margins around tumours and that this will lead to higher cure rates with significantly fewer side effects.
Studies are required to simulate treatment on the MR Linac before it can be used in routine clinical practice and to conduct these studies, we need to obtain MRI scans on patients who are currently undergoing treatment. This study will involve patients having additional imaging with MRI before and during their standard radiotherapy to allow us to build an MRI library on which we can prepare for treatment with the MR Linac in the future.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0591
Date of REC Opinion
27 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion